Radical Utterances from the Soul's Abysms: Toward a New Sense of Whitman

PMLA ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-111
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Black
Keyword(s):  
Literary Analysis ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Philosophical Questions

Contrary to widely accepted arguments, Whitman's poems did not resolve the unconscious conflicts from which they sprang; nor did they indicate the resolution of philosophical questions or psychological conflicts. Neither should they be judged according to their success or failure in such analogical pursuits. Instead they must be judged according to the honesty and courage with which Whitman confronted the chaos within himself and according to the amount and quality of poetic order with which he was able to express the chaos within. If seen in a psychoanalytic context, Whitman's mystical or transcendental moments—moments of apparent attunement with the universe—are wishful assertions, comparable to psychological catharsis—“catharsis” being an experience which gives the illusion that conflicts are resolved when in fact they are not. There is bibliographical and biographical evidence in support of these arguments, but the strongest evidence comes from the literary analysis of such exemplary poems as “Clef Poem,” “As I Ebb'd with the Ocean of Life,” “There Was a Child Went Forth,” and “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking.”

scholarly journals Theories of Death with a Special Reference to Indian Philosophy

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 305
Author(s):  
Gopinath N. Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Indian Philosophy ◽  
Life After Death ◽  
Basic Assumptions ◽  
Long Span ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Common ◽  
Psychological Insecurity ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Philosophical Questions

Most of the philosophers deal with the quality of life, assuming a long span covering all phases. Therefore it is a commonly idealized life. But during the course the life as we advance, there are numerous riddles of self and the universe we live in it to encounter. Certain questions that have not only puzzled the common man but also the intellectuals had been like, Is there any meaning behind every happening? How ought we to live? Is there any life after death? Is death as such is the true end of all activities and so on. However, when the subject of death comes the answers through theories or philosophies have not been very convincing or suitable to all the rungs of the society. This could be mostly due to our evading the very subject of death much owing to the general uneasiness, fear and a sort of psychological insecurity, while dealing with it. Therefore it is always easy to raise philosophical questions than to answer them. There are almost two dozen theories in vogue which have certain basic assumptions but somehow they do not fall in the domain of truly scientific inquiry. They are to be accepted as an outcome of religious sentiments or wishful thinking. This paper highlights the salient features of Indian philosophical viewpoint with regard to death.

Reflecting the Sky in Water

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Cristofaro
Keyword(s):  
The Unconscious ◽  
Related Case ◽  
Quality Of Water ◽  
Fluid Properties ◽  
Phenomenological Perspective ◽  
Auto Ethnography ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Artificial Water ◽  
Land Water

From a phenomenological perspective, the reflective quality of water has a visually dramatic impact, especially when combined with the light of celestial phenomena. However, the possible presence of water as a means for reflecting the sky is often undervalued when interpreting archaeoastronomical sites. From artificial water spaces, such as ditches, huacas and wells to natural ones such as rivers, lakes and puddles, water spaces add a layer of interacting reflections to landscapes. In the cosmological understanding of skyscapes and waterscapes, a cross-cultural metaphorical association between water spaces and the underworld is often revealed. In this research, water-skyscapes are explored through the practice of auto-ethnography and reflexive phenomenology. The mirroring of the sky in water opens up themes such as the continuity, delimitation and manipulation of sky phenomena on land: water spaces act as a continuation of the sky on earth; depending on water spaces’ spatial extension, selected celestial phenomena can be periodically reflected within architectures, so as to make the heavenly dimension easily accessible and a possible object of manipulation. Water-skyscapes appear as specular worlds, where water spaces are assumed to be doorways to the inner reality of the unconscious. The fluid properties of water have the visual effect of dissipating borders, of merging shapes, and, therefore, of dissolving identities; in the inner landscape, this process may represent symbolic death experiences and rituals of initiation, where the annihilation of the individual allows the creative process of a new life cycle. These contextually generalisable results aim to inspire new perspectives on sky-and-water related case studies and give value to the practice of reflexive phenomenology as crucial method of research.

Maqâṣid Al-Qur’ân In The Interpretation of M. Quraish Shihab About The Verse of Social Media Usage

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Johar Arifin ◽  
Ilyas Husti ◽  
Khairunnas Jamal ◽  
Afriadi Putra
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Quality Of Information ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Large Group ◽  
Six Elements ◽  
Written Law ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Universe

This article aims to explain maqâṣid al-Qur’ân according to M. Quraish Shihab and its application in interpreting verses related to the use of social media. The problem that will be answered in this article covers two main issues, namely how the perspective of maqâṣid al-Qur’ân according to M. Quraish Shihab and how it is applied in interpreting the verses of the use of social media. The method used is the thematic method, namely discussing verses based on themes. Fr om this study the authors concluded that according to M. Quraish Shihab there are six elements of a large group of universal goals of the al-Qur’ân, namely strengthening the faith, humans as caliphs, unifying books, law enforcement, callers to the ummah of wasathan, and mastering world civilization. The quality of information lies in the strength of the monotheistic dimension which is the highest peak of the Qur’anic maqâṣid. M. Quraish Shihab offers six diction which can be done by recipients of information in interacting on social media. Thus, it aims to usher in the knowledge and understanding of what is conveyed in carrying out human mission as caliph, enlightenment through oral and written, law enforcement, unifying mankind and the universe to the ummah of wasathan, and mastery of world civilization

scholarly journals ‘God kan net doen wat God wel doen’: Petrus Abelardus se Megariaanse argument in Theologia ‘Scholarium’, Opera Theologica III

2011 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johann Beukes
Keyword(s):  
Specific Reference ◽  
Medieval Philosophy ◽  
Restricted Access ◽  
Master Argument ◽  
Philosophical Questions ◽  
The Way

‘God can only do what God does do’: Peter Abelard’s Megarian argument in Theologia ‘Scholarium’, Opera Theologica III Peter Abelard’s contribution to a constellation of central themes in post-Carolingian medieval philosophy, namely on causation, necessity and contingency, with its discursive undertone of the relation between potentiality and actuality, is worked out in a rather informal way in one of his later works, Theologia ‘Scholarium’. Typical of the fusion of philosophical questions and theological premises in medieval philosophy, Abelard addresses the issue by asking whether God can only do what God does. Abelard argues that God can do or not do or omit doing only those things which God does do or does not do or omits doing and that God can do or can not do or omit doing those things only in the way or at the time at which God does and not at any other. Given Abelard’s fragmented and restricted access to the Aristotelian corpus regarding causality, how did he come to this Aristotelian-orientated conclusion? This article stresses the ancient quality of Abelard’s argument from another angle, reminiscent of the so-called Master Argument of the Megarians, with specific reference to the dialectical legacy of Diodorus Cronus, according to whom what can be is what is: what is, in turn, is what must be. Actuality, for the Megarians, exhausts potentiality. The path of actuality cannot be undermined or compromised by issues of potentiality. God’s actions are thus for both the Megarians and Abelard strictly determined and determining. God, in the end, can only do what God does. This article contributes to scholarship in medieval philosophy or theology by making this connection explicit and by thoroughly exploring the link between Abelard and his ancient predecessors.

scholarly journals Audit Quality and Disclosures of Less-Experienced Participating Audit Firms in PCAOB Filings

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. P1-P8
Author(s):  
Carol Callaway Dee ◽  
Ayalew Lulseged ◽  
Tianming Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Audit Quality ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Subsequent Increase ◽  
Market Prices ◽  
Quarterly Earnings ◽  
Audit Firms ◽  
Reported Earnings ◽  
The Universe

SUMMARY In “Who Did the Audit? Audit Quality and Disclosures of Other Audit Participants in PCAOB Filings” (Dee, Lulseged, and Zhang 2015), we examine quality for issuer audits disclosed as involving less-experienced “participating auditors.” We find that market prices of these issuers reacted negatively at the time of disclosure, and investors' valuations of their post-disclosure quarterly earnings declined; investors have greater uncertainty in the numbers reported. In addition, the quality of the reported earnings is lower. However, we do not see a subsequent increase in audit fees, which suggests clients do not increase demands for higher quality to counteract the uncertainty in investors' perceptions of audit quality. Since our sample is limited to less-experienced participating auditors, the results are not readily generalizable to the universe of participating auditors. Future research using Form AP data can explore if our findings are generalizable to issuer audits involving the wider population of participating auditors.

Sustentabilidade, cultura, lazer e a ocupação dos espaços públicos nas Cidades MIL

2021 ◽  
pp. 151-162
Author(s):  
B. Machado Mazzetti ◽  
F. Chibás Ortiz
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Body Awareness ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City ◽  
Body Practices ◽  
The Universe

This article seeks to reflect on the already existing and inseparable rela­ tionships between society, sustainability, culture and leisure, bringing to the core of the reflection the concept of MIL Cities (Media Information as a potential scenario for developing new urban, human, cul­ tural and technological. Initially, a review of the concept of leisure was made, addressing its foundational pillars and cultural contents, poste­ riorly the relationship between individual and quality of life in cities is explained, through body practices and body awareness, as well as through environmental practices and the promotion of an increasingly active and collective environmental awareness. The relationship of oc­ cupation, belonging and right to the city is also addressed and, precisely at this point, the potential for the use of new technologies by the private sector, public authorities and civil society in the construction and appli­ cation of possibilities that permeate the universe of MIL Cities.

Evaluating IBMEC-RJ’s Intranet Usability Using Fuzzy Logic

2012 ◽  
pp. 185-205
Author(s):  
Ana Beatriz Cavaleiro dos Reis Velloso ◽  
Walter Gassenferth ◽  
Maria Augusta Soares Machado
Keyword(s):  
Fuzzy Logic ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Applied Research ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Microsoft Excel ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
System Usability ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The Universe

System usability is a concept that goes beyond the ease of use, and includes several criteria for measurement. This study aims to evaluate the usability and thus the quality of IBMEC-RJ’s Intranet in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by the fact that it is of great assistance to teachers and students. The method is applied research through questionnaires. The universe of users was limited by a convenience sample of IBMEC. The methodology that had used Microsoft Excel and Matlab from Mathworks is innovative. Fuzzy logic is a fundamental tool for consolidating and analyzing data.

Emerson and the Virtues

1985 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 135-152
Author(s):  
Ellen Kappy Suckiel
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Good Reason ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Times ◽  
The Universe ◽  
American Thought

Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose life spanned most of the nineteenth century, is widely regarded as one of the greatest sages in the history of American thought. Among educated American citizenry, Emerson is probably the most commonly read indigenous philosopher—and for good reason. Emerson presents a vision of human beings and their place in the universe which gives meaning and stature to the human condition. His profound, even religious, optimism, gives structure and import to even the smallest and apparently least significant of human activities. The inspirational quality of Emerson's, prose, his willingness to travel far and wide to lecture, his ability to help people transcend the difficulties of the times, all led to his very great national as well as international significance.

Interpreting the Uninterpretable: The Ethics of Opaqueness as an Approach to Moments of Inscrutability in Fieldwork

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xymena Kurowska
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Relational Psychoanalysis ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Construction Of Meaning ◽  
Narrative Practice

Abstract This paper develops what I call “the ethics of opaqueness” as a response to conceptual impasses concerning the uninterpretability of intersubjective knowledge production in narrative practice. The ethics of opaqueness sees the other as inscrutable and radically heterogenous, and confronts interpretations of the other by the self as suspicious projections. Thus, such an ethics addresses the self, not the other, as the object of the “hermeneutics of suspicion.” In order to conceptualize the ethics of opaqueness, I look to relational psychoanalysis, which understands the unconscious as being inherently intersubjective. This results in a reformulation of the process of recognition, and deeper acknowledgment of countertransference—that is, the partly unconscious conflicts activated in the researcher through the research encounter, which may lead to imposing meaning on the other. The apparatus of relational psychoanalysis concretizes the limits of knowing either the other or the self and supplies a vocabulary to crystallize the double quality of “uninterpretable moments” in narrative practice. They may trigger an imposition of a frame and therefore an interpretive closure; however, they also supply a potentially transformative space for the contentious co-construction of meaning, often in the form of metaphors, which subverts any claim to interpretive mastery.

scholarly journals Why the indifference of the universe is irrelevant to life’s meaning

Human Affairs ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-461
Author(s):  
Brooke Alan Trisel
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Good And Evil ◽  
The Universe

Abstract When pessimists claim that human life is meaningless, they often also assert that the universe is “blind to good and evil” and “indifferent to us”. How, if it all, is the indifference of the universe relevant to whether life is meaningful? To answer this question, and to know whether we should be concerned that the universe is indifferent, we need a clearer and deeper understanding of the concept of “cosmic indifference”, which I will seek to provide. I will argue that the lives of many individuals are meaningful and that human life, in general, is somewhat meaningful, despite the indifference of the universe. Furthermore, I will seek to demonstrate that even if the universe cared about us, or had preferences for how we live our lives, that this likely would not enhance the quality of our lives.

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